Soft isn't a word I would use to describe baseball players in general. Trying to put that hockey label on a ballplayer just doesn't work. It's a long season. Players who play every minute of every game like it's the last out of the World series are usually thought of as not very bright. (Brett Lawrie...table for one). Baseball is a game of some nuance, strategy, and skill. It's not like hockey, or football. You can't "go go go" every second. You have to pick your spots. While it may appear that outfielders who pull up on a short fly ball are "lazy" for not diving for the catch, they're actually the smart ones. Conceding the hit instead of gambling and (more often than not) losing and turning a single into a double or worse. Same thing with guys who are praised for being the type that will "run through walls" to make a play. Idiots. Risking potential injury just to make one play in 162 game season is the height of selfishness. And while conditioning is important, there have been more fat soft guys who've had great careers than there are stars in the sky. It's not really a detriment in some cases. Like John Kruk said when a woman chided him for smoking and being a poor example of a professional athlete. “I ain’t an athlete, lady, I’m a ballplayer!†l
